chapter 5 types of insurers and marketing systems

Chapter 5

Types of Insurers and Marketing

Systems

Copyright ©2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. 5-2

Agenda

• Overview of Private Insurance in the Financial Services Industry

• Types of Private Insurers• Agents and Brokers• Types of Marketing Systems• Group Insurance Marketing


Overview of Private Insurance in the Financial Services Industry

• The financial services industry consists of:– Commercial banks– Savings and loan institutions– Credit unions– Life and health insurers– Property and casualty insurers– Mutual Funds– Securities brokers and dealers– Private and state pension funds– Government-related financial institutions


Exhibit 5.1 Assets of Financial Services Sectors, 2010 ($billions)


Overview of Private Insurance in the Financial Services Industry

• Changes in the financial services industry include:– Consolidation means that the number of firms

has declined due to mergers and acquisitions– Convergence means that financial institutions

now sell a wide variety of financial products that earlier were outside their core business area


Types of Private Insurers

• Size of the insurance market, 2010– Life and health insurers: 1061 - these insurers

sell life and health insurance products, annuities, mutual funds, pension plans, and related financial products

– Property and casualty insurers: 2689 - these insurers sell property and casualty insurance and related lines, including inland marine coverages and surety and fidelity bonds


Exhibit 5.2 Top Twenty U.S. Life/Health Insurance Groups by Revenues, 2010 ($ millions)


Exhibit 5.3 Top Twenty U.S. Property/ Casualty Companies by Revenues, 2010 ($millions)



• Insurers can be classified by their organizational form:– Stock insurers– Mutual insurers– Reciprocal exchanges– Lloyd’s of London– Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans– Health maintenance organizations (HMOs)– Other types of private insurers



• A stock insurer is a corporation owned by stockholders– Objective: earn profit for stockholders by

increasing the value of stock and paying dividends

– Stockholders elect board of directors– Stockholders bear all losses– Insurer cannot issue an assessable policy



• A mutual insurer is a corporation owned by the policyowners– Policyowners elect board of directors, who have

effective management – Policyholders may receive dividends or rate

reductions



– There are three main types of mutual insurers:• An advance premium mutual is owned by the

policyowners; there are no stockholders, and the insurer does not issue assessable policies

• An assessment mutual has the right to assess policyowners an additional amount if the insurer’s financial operations are unfavorable

• A fraternal insurer is a mutual insurer that provides life and health insurance to members of a social or religious organization



• The corporate structure of mutual insurers is changing due to:– An increase in company mergers– Demutualization, whereby a mutual company is

converted into a stock insurer by a pure conversion, merger, or bulk reinsurance

– The creation of mutual holding companies– A holding company is a company that directly or

indirectly controls an authorized insurer


Exhibit 5.4 Mutual Holding Company Illustration



• Lloyd’s of London is not an insurer, but a society of members who underwrite insurance in syndicates– Membership includes corporations, individual

members (called Names), and limited partnerships

– New individual members now have limited legal liability

– Corporations with limited legal liability and limited liability partnerships can also join Lloyd’s of London

– Members must meet stringent financial requirements

– Lloyd’s is licensed only in a small number of jurisdictions in the U.S.



• A reciprocal exchange can be defined as an unincorporated organization in which insurance is exchanged among the members (called subscribers)– Insurance is exchanged among the members;

each member of the reciprocal insures the other members

– It is managed by an attorney-in-fact– Most reciprocals are relatively small and

specialize in a limited number of lines of insurance



• Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans are generally organized as nonprofit, community oriented plans– Blue Cross plans provide coverage for hospital

services– Blue Shield plans provide coverage for

physicians’ and surgeons’ fees– Most plans have merged into one entity– Many sponsor HMOs and PPOs– Some plans have converted to a for-profit status

to raise capital and become more competitive



• A Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) provides comprehensive health care services to its members– Broad health care services are provided for a

fixed prepaid fee– Cost control is emphasized– Choice of health care providers may be

restricted– Less costly forms of treatment are often

provided



• A captive insurer is an insurer owned by a parent firm for the purposes of insuring the parent firm’s loss exposures– A single parent, or pure, captive is an insurer

owned by one parent– An association captive is owned by several

parents

• Savings Bank Life Insurance refers to life insurance that is sold by mutual savings banks, over the phone or through Web sites


Agents and Brokers

• An agent is someone who legally represents the principal and has the authority to act on the principal's behalf

• Authority may be:– Expressed– Implied– Apparent

• The principal is legally responsible for all acts of an agent when the agent is acting within the scope of authority


Agents and Brokers

• A property and casualty agent has the power to bind the insurer– A binder provides temporary insurance until the

policy is actually written

• A life insurance agent normally does not have the authority to bind the insurer– The applicant for life insurance must be

approved by the insurer before the insurance becomes effective


Agents and Brokers

• A broker is someone who legally represents the insured, and:– solicits applications and attempts to place

coverage with an appropriate insurer– is paid a commission from the insurers where

the business is placed– does not have the authority to bind the insurer

• A surplus lines broker is licensed to place business with a nonadmitted insurer– Surplus lines refer to any type of insurance for

which there is no available market within the state, and coverage must be placed with a nonadmitted insurer


Life Insurance Marketing

• The majority of life insurance policies and annuities sold today are through personal selling distribution systems

– Commissioned agents solicit and sell life insurance products to prospective insureds

– Career, or affiliated, agents are full-time agents who usually represent one insurer and are paid on a commission basis.

– In a multiple line exclusive agency system, agents who sell primarily property and casualty insurance also sell individual life and health insurance products.



– Independent property and casualty agents are independent contractors who represent several insurers and sell primarily property and casualty insurance

– A personal-producing general agent (PPGA) is an independent agent who places substantial amounts of business with one insurer and has a special financial arrangement with that insurer

– Brokers are independent agents who do not have an exclusive contract with any single insurer



• Many insurers today use commercial banks and other financial institutions as a distribution system

• A direct response system is a marketing system by which insurance products are sold directly to consumers without a face-to-face meeting with an agent– Acquisition costs can be held down, but complex

products are difficult to sell this way



• Other forms of life insurance distribution include:– Worksite marketing– Stock brokers– Financial planners


Property and Casualty Insurance Marketing

• The independent agency is a business firm that usually represents several unrelated insurers– Agents are paid a commission based on the

amount of business produced, which vary by the line of insurance

– The agency owns the expirations or renewal rights to the business; it may bill the policyholders and collect premiums, but most insurers use direct billing

– Agents may be authorized to adjust small claims and may provide loss control services to their insureds


Property and Casualty Insurance Marketing

• Under the exclusive agency system, the agent represents only one insurer or group of insurers under common ownership– Agents do not usually own the expirations or

renewal rights to the policies– Agents are generally paid a lower commission

rate on renewal business than on new business– Exclusive agency insurers provide strong support

services to new agents


Marketing Systems in Property and Liability Insurance

• A direct writer is an insurer in which the salesperson is an employee of the insurer, not an independent contractor.– Employees are usually compensated on a “salary

plus” arrangement• A direct response insurer sells directly to

the consumer by television or some other media

• Many property and casualty insurers use multiple distribution systems


Group Insurance Marketing

• Many insurers use group marketing methods to sell individual insurance policies to:– Employer groups– Labor unions– Trade associations

• Products are sold through group representatives, employees who receive a salary and incentive payments based on sales.

• Some property and liability insurers use mass merchandising plans to market their insurance

• Employees typically pay for insurance by payroll deduction

chapter 5 types of insurers and marketing systems

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